Kiki PauWhite mountainJohanna Kustannus

9

I fell quite hard for "Let's rock", my first exposure to Finland's Kiki Pau. As I noted in my review, the group has an uncanny knack for seamlessly transitioning through and combining the pivotal elements of numerous sub-genres. There are a few tracks on "White mountain" that could have been on "Let's rock" (and this is not to suggest the band has been overcome by creative laziness, but to reemphasize the strength of that previous album), but Kiki Pau's newest effort brings in a number of new artistic avenues: on "Just real", The Smiths or Pixies-like tempos and approach is replaced by a driving, guitar-layered framework more akin to the rock'n'roll of the 1960s; the title track is one of the band's finest moments, easily combining elements of garage rock with an almost '70s pop feel; "I fell asleep" springs to life on the back of warm, distorted guitars -- yet another homage to the rock of past decades -- and ends in a glorious, near-psychedelic freak-out; and "Daniel Fulano" could almost be a Håkan Hellström composition (and I'm a big fan of Hellström's, so there is no backhanded compliment present in my words). Yet, as with "Let's rock", "White mountain" is very much Kiki Pau's creation, despite the links that can be made between their music and the works of others. While there are sure to be songs that will have you asking yourself "Who does that remind me of?", you'll find yourself quite content in the realization that, after two fine albums, those tracks sound just like Kiki Pau.- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson